The Moon

What is the Moon?

A large rock that
orbits a planet
The Earth has 1
moon
Moons orbit
planets
Planets orbit the
sun

Moon Facts
The moon is
240,000 miles from
Planet Earth.
The moon rotates
counterclockwise.
There are holes on
the moons surface
called craters.
The moon gets its
light from the
reflection of the
sun.

The Sun, Earth, & Moon

Animation of Earth, Moon, &

Sun
Animated Movement of the Moon, Ear
th, & Sun

Why doesnt the moon look the

same?
As the moon orbits
around the earth, the
light from the sun
shines on it.
From earth, we can only
see certain portions of
the lit moon.
It takes 1 month,
approx. 29 days, for the
moon to completely
orbit the Earth.

Animation of the Moon

Phases
Moon Phase Animation
Throughout a month, the moons
position changes & we can only see
some parts of the illuminated moon.

The Moon Causes Tides

Tides are caused
by the gravitational
pull of the moon.
There are two
types of tides: High
& Low
High tide occurs
twice a day.

Tide Images
High Tide

Low Tide

Diagram of the Moon

Phases
The sun is
always shining
on the moon.

From earth we
can only see
certain parts of
the moon that
are lit by the
sun.

Diagram of the Moon

Phases

NEW
MOON

The moon is lit by the sun. However, the lit side of the
moon cannot be seen from Earth. The moon appears
black during the NEW MOON PHASE.

Diagram of the Moon

The moon is lit by thePhases
sun. We can only see a small
portion of the lit moon from Earth. It is called a WAXING
CRESCENT.

WAXING
CRESCENT

Diagram of the Moon

The moon is lit by thePhases
sun. We can see half of the lit
moon from Earth. It is called a WAXING HALF MOON or a
FIRST QUARTER MOON.

WAXING
HALF MOON
(1ST

Diagram of the Moon

The moon is lit by thePhases
sun. We can see a lot of the lit
moon from Earth. It is called a WAXING GIBBOUS.

WAXING
GIBBOUS

Diagram of the Moon

The moon is lit by thePhases
sun. We can see the entire lit
moon from Earth. This is the FULL MOON phase.

FULL MOON

Diagram of the Moon

The moon is lit by thePhases
sun. We can see a lot of the lit
moon from Earth. This phase is called the WANING
GIBBOUS.

WANING
GIBBOUS

Diagram of the Moon

Phases

WANING HALF
MOON
(LAST QUARTER)

The moon is lit by the sun. We can see half of the lit
moon from Earth. This is known as the WANING HALF

Diagram of the Moon

Phases
WANING
CRESCENT

The moon is lit by the sun. We can only see a small

portion of the lit moon from Earth. This is called the

The Phases Build Upon One

Another:

Lets look at the phases all together:

What does
WAXING
mean?
What does
WANING
mean?
What is a
CRESCENT?
What is a
GIBBOUS?